I’VE changed my philosophy about buying “floppies” (single
issues) over “trades” (TPBs). You hear about it in a short podcast I did
recently. It can be found HERE.

1.-8. Powers #4-11 (Icon, 2010-12) ****

9.-20. Powers
Bureau #1-12 (Icon, 2013-14) ****½

21.-25. Powers #1-5 (Icon, 2015- ) ****

Writer:
Brian Michael Bendis/Artist: Mike Avon Oeming

Pretty
cool catching up on five years of Powers in one hit. If you don’t read Bendis’
back matter, then you can rip through an issue pretty quick. The feeling I got
by the end of these issues is that not only being a copy the WORST JOB in
Chicago. But being a cop alongside powers detectives Pilgrim, Sunshine and
Walker is the WORST JOB in the world. You are almost guaranteed of getting
bitchily insulted by Pilgrim or Sunshine or winding up as dead collateral
damage when some super-powered guy attacks Walker. Sucks to be a cop in Bendis’
world.

Also the
three main protagonists have all spied, betrayed and lied to each other in the
25 issues I’ve read, so I can’t work out why they’re all still friends. Maybe
Powers isn’t meant to be read in one massive 25-issue hit ’cos the plot flaws
become too obvious.

That
said, this is easily one of the best cop/crime/superhero series on the racks
right now – and it has been for at least five years.26. Pizzazz #11 (Marvel, 1978) **½

I’d always been fascinated by the ads for this ill-fated
teen entertainment mag put out by Marvel in the late 70s. It was the sort-of
mag that promised young readers everything, but even as an impressionable child
I just KNEW it would never deliver on that promise. Nearly 40 years later, I
finally read a copy and I was surprised to find that I was wrong. Oh, sure,
there are plenty of horrible features on celebs and “teen” activities clearly
written from the perspective of 30-something Jewish New Yorkers, but how could
I completely hate a mag that featured classic Stars Wars characters and art by
Simonson AND a 1949 reprint of a Kurtzman one-pager? Add an out-of-the-box
feature on New York’s legendary CBGBs (which managed to be both cool and
uncool, especially when it referred to KISS as a “punk” band) and Pizzazz was a
helluva lot better than I imagined.

27.-29. Dark Corridor #1-3 (Image, 2015) *****

Writer/Artist: Rich Tommaso

Fucking brilliant film noir-style comics from the creator of
The Horror Of Collier County. I’m so
glad I picked up this title.

30. 8house #4 (Image, 2015) ****

Writers: Fil Barlow & Helen Maier/Artist: Fil Barlow

Beautiful artwork and an intriguing storyline from Fil, an
Australian comics legend of the 1980s. 8house
hadn’t caught my interest in previous issues, but I’ll definitely buy the next
instalment to see where Fil and Helen take us with this sci-fi fantasy yarn. I
may even pick up the previous three issues as well.

31. Wild’s End: The Enemy Within #1 (BOOM!,
2015) ****

Writer: Dan Abnett/Artist: LNJ Culbard

Our heroes from the first arc are back and now they’re
prisoners of the British Army, being held for “questioning”. So now we have HG
Wells-style Martian aliens mashed up with X-Files-like
paranoia. Very cool. Sadly, it’s too expensive to keep reading, so I’ll wait
for the trade now.

Okay parts, lame in others. I like how this comic works the
original Mad Max trilogy into the
history of the new film. This miniseries is actually a prequel to Fury Road and it starts strongly, but
has a flat ending to the first issue. I see no need to buy the next issue
(especially as it’s US$4.99 a copy).

Another superhero yarn bites the dust at Image. At least
loyal readers got an ending. It had some real promise, but comes across very
rushed in this final instalment.

47.-51. Rat God HC (Dark Horse, 2015) ****

- originally published by Rat God #1-5 (Dark Horse, 2015)

Writer/Artist: Richard Corben

I had to buy a copy of this hard-copy book, even though I have
digital copies of the original issues. Because you have to have Corben as hard
copy to truly appreciate his greatness. Now, this Lovecraftian/Native American
mythology mash-up isn’t particularly good – Corben’s weakness has always been
his writing – but at age 75 his art is as powerful as ever. Beautiful,
beautiful stuff.

Pity fans are getting bogged down by the whole
self-censorship issue. If Corben wants to eliminate bald vagina from the
collected edition, then that’s his right (as long as he wasn’t pressured into
it by Dark Horse).

An horrific advertorial for KFC that I picked up for free
from Comixology.com. An evil Colonel Sanders from Earth-3 comes to Earth-1 and
teams up with Captain Cold and The Mirror Master to make bad chicken. Then the
good Col. Sanders arrives to kick his arse and tell everyone why KFC makes the
best fried chicken on Earth (or Earth-1, that is). The Flash and Green Lantern
stand around looking impotent. Arguably the lamest superhero comic of the 21st
century.

The usual strident mix of good and not-so-good tales about
censorship. Art Spiegelman’s one-pager – which was originally to be published
in the Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer-edited “censorship” issue of New Statesman magazine earlier this year
before it got dropped due to fears of an Islamic backlash – gets a run here and
it’s the clear highlight.

$4.99 for the first issue? Fuck me! Good thing this is just
about the best new comic I’ve read in 2015. Gilbert rises above his usual
overrated, mediocre self to deliver a strong script and Darwyn is fucking ON
SONG. But damn! $4.99 an issue? Yeah...you guessed it, I’ll wait for the trade.

A promising comic about a Las Vegas dancer and her pet
ostrich battling a mobster with a lava lamp for a head while a bizarre serial
killer butchers folk in a big Vegas casino. However, Vertigo falls apart under its trippy pretentiousness by the fourth
issue. Pity.

84. Numb (self-published, 2006) ***½

Writer/Artist: Joshua Kemble

A cool tale about a lovelorn author with writer’s block
looking for a new muse.

85. Odd Comics (Fanatic Press, 2009) *

Writer: Dan Burke/Artist: Dan Burke (interior); Dave Herring
(cover)

Below-par sub-MAD
magazine fare.

86. HMM? #1 (Altered Fates Entertainment,
2004) *

Writers/Artists: the usual gang of idiots

More wannabe MAD
crap. Poorly printed, too.

87. Wavemakers #1 (Blind Bat Press, 1990)
***

Writers: various/Artists: various (interior); Brad W. Foster
(cover)

A solid indie anthology featuring the likes of Foster, Matt
Howarth and Bernie Mireault. The best story is a nasty post-apocalypse tale
called “Civilized Stuff” by Earl Geier: murder, incest, cannibalism and more
nastiness.

Below-par superhero comic made slightly better by the
Chaykin cover. It appears he’s signed this issue that I possess, so I guess
I’ll hang onto it.

89. Ultra Klutz #1 (Onward Comics, 1986) DUD

Writer/Artist: Jeff Nicholson

A woefully horrible Ultraman/Godzilla pastiche. Really
shithouse considering I’d heard such good things about this series many years
ago.

90. Hi-Horse #3 (self-published, 2002) **

Writers/artists: various

Mixed bag of eclectic work in this patchy anthology. “A
Turnip’s Progress”, Andrice Arps’ pastiche of 18th century cartoons (with
spirally speech balloons and old-timey language), is easily the pick of the
strips.